Gum massage devices



J. B. BARRON 2,800,899

GUM MASSAGE DEVICES July 30, 1957 Filed May 11, 1953 /N VENTOI? JOSEPH5. BA RRON 8V ifML;

United States Patent F GUM MASSAGE DEVICES Joseph B. Barron, Brookline,Mass.

Application May 11, 1953, Serial No. 353,930

4 Claims. (Cl. 128-62) This invention relates to a gum massage deviceand more particularly to such a device which may be formed as part of atoothbrush whereby the toothbrush handle also serves as the handle forthe massage device.

Heretofore, in devices of this general nature, the massager itself,which ordinarily is made of a soft rubber body, has been mounted on itshandle in a single predetermined fixed position. This has limited thedegree to which various portions of the gums could be reached for properapplication of the massage surfaces and also usually interfered with theinsertion of the end of the toothbrush into a toothbrush holder. Thepresent invention eliminates these limitations and difficulties.Briefly, this is attained by providing the toothbrush handle with asection carrying the massager, which section is pivoted to the handle sothat it may be rotated into a plurality of predetermined angularpositions, in each of which positions it is preferably retained bysuitable detent means.

The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention will be bestunderstood from the following description of exemplifications thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a toothbrush constructed in accordance with thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the lower end of Fig. 2, withthe pivoted section and the massage tip drawn in dotted lines to showthe arrangement of the detent recesses;

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing one manner of using the massager in oneposition of the pivoted section;

Fig. 6 is a similar diagram showing one manner of using the massager inanother position of the pivoted section; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged end view, similar to that of Fig. 1, of anotherembodiment of the present invention.

In the arrangement of Figs. 1 through 6, a toothbrush handle 10 isprovided at one end with the usual type of head 11 carrying tufts ofbristles 12. The front face of the handle 10 is designated at 13 and therear face is designated at 14. The lower end of the handle 10 isprovided with a central tongue 15 projecting beyond the handle proper.At each side of the tongue 15 the lower end of the handle 10 is shapedto provide a beveled face 16 lying at an angle of approximately 45degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of the handle 10. Eachbeveled face 16 slopes downwardly from the front face 13 to a horizontalstop surface 17 adjacent the rear face 14.

Pivoted to the tongue 15 is a tab 18 provided with a pair of side arms19 lying on opposite sides of the tongue 15. A pivoted pin 20 passesthrough the side arms 19 and the tongue 15 to support the tab 18 withthe desired degree of pivotal motion. The end of the tab 18 is alsoprovided with a button 21 onto which is fitted the massager element 22made of a suitable soft rubber or plastic material. The massager elementis formed with a head portion 23 and a pointed extension 24. The headportion is provided with a recess into which the button 21 fits toretain the massager element 22. This arrangement permits a readyreplacement of the massager 22. If desired, the massager element may becarried by the tab 18 as an integral part thereof, in which case the taband its massager element could be made of rubber or plastic of theproper degree of flexibility.

When the toothbrush is to be inserted in the usual holder, the tab 18 isrotated into the ISO-degree position designated by the dot-dash line 25in Fig. 4. This position of the tab 18 is shown in Fig. 2 from which itwill be seen that the massager 22 lies in such a position that it maypass readily through the usual hole in the holder. This is in contrastto previous arrangements in which an angular disposition of a massagerinterferes with ready insertion of the handle into its holder.

When the handle 10 is removed from its holder, the tab 18 may be rotatedinto an angular position with respect to the handle in which it lies inan ideal relationship with respect to the gums to be massaged. One-suchposition is the -degree position designated by the dotdash line 26 inFig. 4. This position of the tab 18 is shown in Fig. 5, wherein the backsurface of the tab 18 abuts the horizontal stop surface 17 and thus thepointed extension 24 projects at 90 degrees with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the handle 10. As shown in Fig. 5, in thisposition, the extension 24 may be applied readily to massage the gum 27along the base of a tooth 28 or at other locations such as theinterproximal spaces between the teeth.

When the 90-degree position is such as to prevent the massaging ofdesired areas of the gums without danger of irritation due to improperpositioning of the massager, the tab 18 may be rotated into the45-degree position designated by the dot-dash line 29 in Fig. 4. Thisposition of the tab 18 is shown in Fig. 6, wherein the front surface ofthe tab 18 abuts the beveled face 16 and thus the pointed extension 24projects at 45 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of thehandle 10. As shown in Fig. 6, in this position, the head portion 23 ofthe massager may readily stimulate lateral gum surfaces 30 while theextension 24 is accessible to gum areas which cannot be reached properlyin the 90-degree position.

Although the stop surfaces 16 and 17 enable pressure to be exerted onthe massager element 22 without moving it out of position, it is usuallydesirable to provide detent means to hold the tab 18 in its variouspositions. This may be done by providing a projection 31 on the innerface of each side arm 19 and a series of recesses 32 on each side faceof the tongue 15. In each position of adjustment of the tab 18 eachprojection 31 snaps into a properly placed recess 32 so that the tab 18is quickly, accurately and firmly fixed in the desired position.

Of course, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited tothe particular details described above, since many equivalents willsuggest themselves to those skilled in the art. For example, as shown inFig. 7, the tab 18 may be provided with a central tongue 33 while thehandle 10 is provided with projecting side arms 34, thus reversing therelationship represented by the tongue 15 and side arms 19 of thepreviously described embodiment. In Fig. 7 a beveled surface 35,corresponding to the beveled surface 16, is shown formed on the handle10 between the side arms 34. Also, although the invention is shown asbeing incorporated in a toothbrush structure, the massager may be madeas a unit in itself and provided with its own handle. The massagerelement may be made with the sides of the head 23 as a continuplurality1 1it r ntie u -p What'isclaimed isf' 1; Agurn'massager "comprising anelongated handle,

a tab pivoted" to one endof said handle, and a massager element carriedby said: tab, said handle being provided with a plurality of'stopsurfaces adjacent said tab and lying in diflz'erent'angular positionswith respect to 'the longitudinal axis of'said handle, said tab beingrotatable into a plurality of' predetermined angular positions withrespect to the longitudinal axis of said handle in each ofiwhich'alateral surface ,of said tab engages one of said stopsurfac'esQ 1: i

7', ZEA'gUm'massager an elongatedfhandle, a

tab pivoted tofoneend'pf saidhandle, a massager elementcarrie'dbyjsaidjab, s handle being provided with a es adjacentlsaid taband lying in H p 1 s'withjrespect tothe longitudinal axis'of saidhandle; said t'ab 'being'rotatable into, a' plurality the longitudinalaxis of said handle, in a third of said positions the axis of said taband said massager element of predetermined angular positionsiwithrespect to the longitudinal. axis of said handle in each of which alateral surface of said tabw engages one of said stop surfaces, anddetent means for holdingsaid tab in each of said positions;

' 3'. A gum massage].- comprising an elongated handle,

a tab pivoted to one end of said handle, and a massager element carriedby said tab, said tab being rotatable into a plurality of predeterminedangular positions with respect to thelongitudinal axis of said handle,in one of said positions the axis of said tab and said massager elementlying along the longitudinal axis of said handle, in" a second of saidpositions the axis of said tab and said inassager element beingsubstantially perpendicular to forming an acute angle with thelongitudinal axis of said handle, said handle being provided with a pairof stop surfaces adjacent said tab and lying in difierent angularpositions with respect to the longitudinal axis of said handle, in eachof said second and third positions a lateral surface of said tabengaging. onefof said stop surfaces.

4. A gum massager cornprising an elongatedhandle, a tab pivoted to oneendof said han dle, a massager element carried by said tab, said tabbeing rotatable into a plurality of predetermined angular positionsvwith respect to the longitudinal axis of said handle, in one of saidpositions the axis of said tab and said massager element lying along thelongitudinal axis of said handle, in a a second of said positions theaxisof said tab and said massager element being substantiallyperpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said handle, in a third ofsaidpositions the axis of said tab andsaid massager element formin g anacute 'angle with the longitudinal 7 axis at. said 'han dle, saidhandle' being provided with a pair, of stop surfaces adjacent s'aid 'taband lying in difierent'angular' positions with respect to thelongitudinal axis of said handle, in 'each of saidseco'nd' a'n'dthirdpositionsa'lateralsurface of'said tab engaging one of said stopsurfaces, and detent means for holding said tab ineach of said posi-,tions. H1 i i References Citedinjthetile of this patent I,

' UNITED s'rATEs PATENTS 2,016,597 Drake Oct. 8, 1935 v ECREIGN'PATENT18,670 Great Britain Nov; 21, 1889 Switzerland Aug. ,1, 1934

